Dark Destinies
by yasha012
Summary: Several moons have passed since the battle with Dodge, and SkyClan is doing well. But darker storms are coming. A new destiny awaits, one that threatens not only Leafstar's life, but Sharpclaw's as well. Will they be able to face their destiny and save all that they hold dear? Or will SkyClan be destroyed once more?
1. Allegiances

**ALLEGIANCES:**

**SkyClan:**

_**Leader: **Leafstar: _A brown-and-cream colored tabby she-cat with amber eyes. She has seven remaining lives and is mates with Billystorm.

_**Deputy: **Sharpclaw: _A dark ginger tom.

_**Medicine Cat: **Echosong: _A silver tabby she-cat with green eyes. (Apprentice: Frecklepaw)

_**Warriors: **Patchfoot: _A black-and-white tom. He is mates with Clovertail. (Apprentice: Rabbitpaw)

_Petalnose: _A pale gray she-cat.

_Sagesong: _A pale gray tom. He is Petalnose's son. (Apprentice: Creekpaw)

_Mintfur: _A gray tabby she-cat. She is Petalnose's daughter.

_Sparrowpelt: _A dark brown tabby tom. He is Cherrytail's brother. (Apprentice: Nettlepaw)

_Cherrytail: _A tortoiseshell-and-white she cat. (Apprentice: Plumpaw)

_Waspwhisker: _A gray-and-white tom. He is mates with Fallowfern.

_Shrewtooth: _A black tom. He is mates with Ebonyclaw.

_Ebonyclaw: _A sleek black she-cat. (Apprentice: Moorpaw)

_Billystorm: _A ginger-and-white tom.

_Harveymoon: _A white tom.

_Macgyver: _A black-and-white tom.

_Rocksade: _A black tom. He is Clovertail's son. (Apprentice: Brightpaw)

_Bouncefire: _A ginger tom. He is Clovertail's son.

_Tinycloud: _A small white she-cat. She is Clovertail's daughter.

_Eggfur: _A cream colored tom.

_Fallowfern: _A pale gray she-cat.

_**Apprentices: **Frecklepaw: _A mottled light brown tabby she-cat with spotted legs.

_Rabbitpaw: _A grayish-white tom. He is Fallowfern's son.

_Nettlepaw: _A light brown tom. He is Fallowfern's son.

_Plumpaw: _A darker brown she-cat. She is Fallowfern's daughter.

_Creekpaw: _A small white tom. He is fallowfern's son.

_Duskpaw: _A dark gray tom with black ear-tips.

_Moorpaw: _A small, sand-colored she-cat.

_Brightpaw: _A bright white she-cat.

_**Queens: **Clovertail: _A light brown she-cat with a white belly and legs. She is the mother of Sandkit (a sand colored she cat), Cloudkit (a white tom), Pebblekit (a gray tom) and Riverkit (a light gray she-cat).

_Mosstail: _A whit-and-gray she-cat. She is the mother of Leafkit (a light brown she-cat), and Mousekit (a dark brown she-cat).

_Fernclaw: _A small brown she-cat. She is the mother of Hawkkit (a dark ginger tom).

_Winterwish: _A pure white she-cat. She is expecting Branch's kits.

_Goldenfur: _A pale ginger she-cat. She is expecting Oscar's kits.

_**Elders: **Lichenfur: _A gray mottled she-cat.

_Tangle: _A ragged tabby tom.

_Moorfeather: _A light gray tabby with feathery-soft fur.

**Cats Outside SkyClan:**

_**Kittypets: **Hutch: _A dark brown tom. He was formerly Shortwhisker.

_Oscar: _A large black tom.

_Bella: _A tabby-and-white she-cat with amber eyes.

_Rose: _An elegant brown-and-cream Siamese she-cat with slanting blue eyes.

_Lily: _Rose's twin sister.

_Snook: _A black-and-white tom.

_Molly: _A small white-and-brown tabby she-cat.

_Raven: _A small, pitch black she-cat.

_Tam: _A dark brown she-cat with lighter brown patches.

_**Loners: **Rock: _A large, dark gray tom.

_Quill: _A dark gray tom.

_Branch: _A powerful, dark brown tom.

_Breeze: _A silver she-cat. She is the mother of Stream (a silver she-kit), Whisper (a gray she-kit), and Snow (a white she-kit).

_Light: _A large, sunset-colored tom.

_Moon: _A small white tom.

_Storm: _A large, dark gray tom.

_Leap: _A cream colred tom.

_Fern: _A light gray she-cat.

_Willow: _A gray she-cat.

_Winter: _A snowy white she-cat.

_Star: _A yellowish she-cat.

**Ancient SkyClan:**

**_Leader: _**_Cloudstar: _A pale gray tom with white patches and very pale blue eyes. He was SkyClan's leader when they fled the forest.

**_Medicine Cat: _**_Fawstep: _A light-brown tabby she-cat. She was SkyClan's medicine cat when they fled the forest and mentor's Echosong in dreams.

**_Warriors: _**_Rainfur: _A light gray tom who died during the first rat battle with the new SkyClan. He was Petalnose's mate.

**A/N IMPORTANT NOTE! This takes place after SkyClan's Destiny. The former Daylight-Warriors are now full warriors. There are currently no new Daylight-Warriors. Also, more characters may be added later.**


	2. Prologue

_The night was dark. The air was cold and bitter and chilled every living thing to the bone. The moon was full, though it offered no light for the land below. Its calm, cool surface was almost completely obscured by the dark clouds that traveled slowly across the sky._

_Below, nothing moved. The land was still, almost as if it were frozen in time. Few plants grew, and many were either dead or dying. There was no grass to cover the dry, dry dirt that covered the ground in its entirety. _

_Away from the few struggling plants was a large rock. Though it now stood alone, it seemed as though it had once been part of the towering mountains a great distance behind it. The front and sides were steep; far too steep to climb. The back, while also very steep, had quite a few small niches in it. More than enough to allow climbing._

_Atop of it sat a lone figure, a powerful looking tom whose features were cast in shadow. Despite the clouds, the tom sat with his nose pointed to the moon. His eyes shone with it's light, and his pelt seemed to shimmer with the stars…_


	3. Chapter 1

Leafstar was out hunting by herself. The hunting patrol and border patrols had already left, and, seeing that everything was fine in the camp, she'd decided to hunt on her own for a while and enjoy the cool morning. A fresh breeze blew through the trees, carrying the scent of prey to her nose. Her mouth watered a bit at the smell. She couldn't wait to catch something. Dropping into the hunter's crouch, she crept through the tall, lush grass toward the mouse she'd just scented. The breeze was blowing toward her, much to her relief, carrying her scent away from her prey. She crept closer, almost ready to pounce. She bunched up her muscles, ready to make the kill, when a great yowling startled both her and her prey. The mouse scurried away.

"Mouse dung!" she muttered crossly, upset that she'd lost her prey.

Sighing softly, she turned and looked around, trying to determine where the noise was coming from. Despite how everything seemed to echo in the still silence of the morning, it didn't take long for her to pinpoint the source of all the ruckus. Suddenly worried, she rushed back to the camp as fast as her paws could carry her. Fears raced through her mind like a fierce wind.

_'Are we being attacked again? Starclan, please don't let it be that!' _

As she reached the top of the gorge, she began to hear voices.

"What do you mean _my_ fault?!" Sparrowpelt demanded, beginning to bristle with anger. "_You're _the one who suggested we let the stupid fur-ball join!"

"Only because _you_ said he'd make a great addition!" Cherrytail spat back, also beginning to bristle. "It's not _my_ fault you were wrong!"

Leafstar leapt between them, hoping to prevent an all out fight.

"Knock it off, the both of you!" she snarled.

Much to her relief, they both stepped back a bit, though their anger didn't subside.

"What in Starclan's name is going on here?!" she demanded.

"It's Dusk!" Sparrowpelt exclaimed. "That rotten flea-bag has no clue how to hunt! He scared all the prey away and ruined Nettlepaw's hunting practice!"

"And Plumpaw's!" Cherrytail added. "All because this _mouse-brain_ over here decided to take him along!"

Leafstar began to bristle.

_'How dare they insult an apprentice like this! Especially one so new to the clan! He's only been here for a fraction of a moon!'_

Cherrytail and Sparrowpelt continued to argue, and finally, Leaftsar had enough.

"Knock it off!" she exclaimed. "Dusk is new to the clan! He hasn't had a chance to learn how to hunt yet, which is why he needs training, just like every young cat! Getting angry over one failed hunt won't help any cat, and certainly not him! You're own apprentices had the same problems when they first started, didn't they?"

Both cats were silent as they nodded, beginning to hang their heads a bit, ashamed at being scolded, especially by Leafstar herself.

"Dusk is no different," Leafstar said, more quietly now as her anger began to dissolve. "I want you _both_ to stop being o hard on him and just give him a chance. Take the time to teach him the skills he needs to know, rather than expecting him to just know them."

She looked them both in the eyes and her voice firmed again.

"I don't know what you have against him, but whatever it is, you need to get over it. He's our clanmate now, and he's not going anywhere, so you may as well get used to him. Got it?"

"Yes Leafstar," they both mumbled.

She nodded curtly to them both stalking off, hoping to get back to hunting before the coolness of the morning gave way to the heat of sunhigh. Just as she was heading past the rockpile, she spotted Dusk. He was sitting in the shadow of the rockpile, his head and ears drooping, staring at the ground in front of his paws. Feeling a pang of sympathy, she headed toward him. At the sound of her approaching pawsteps, he looked over to her. He wilted again and looked away.

"I'm sorry about the hunting patrol, Leafstar... I-I didn't mean..." he mumbled, trailing off.

She nudged him gently with her nose, hoping to comfort him.

"Every cat makes mistakes," she murmured. "It's not your fault."

"Then why did they get mad at me?" he asked, still not looking up.

She sighed.

"I don't know, but I had a talk with them. They shouldn't do that again." she replied. "Those two have nasty tempers, Duskpaw. I'm sure it's nothing against you."

He didn't seem to believe her and seemed to be blaming the whole thing on himself. Deciding she needed to do something about that, she spoke again.

"Even leader's make mistakes, you know," she said, gazing at the sky.

He looked at her wide-eyed.

"Even you?" He asked in disbelief.

She nodded.

"Of course. It can happen to any cat, no matter how well-trained they are," she said. "My first hunt was a disaster, too."

"Probably not as bad as mine," he mumbled.

"No, it was actually a whole lot worse," she replied, not even trying to hide her amusement at the memory.

"Worse?" he repeated in shock.

She nodded.

"I was trying to catch a squirrel that was way too big. My father tried to warn me, but I chased after it anyway." she said. "I ran after it as fast as I could, and ended up getting stuck in a tree. That squirrel seemed bent on revenge, too. It kept throwing nuts and things at me until it eventually knocked me out of the tree. I landed right on top of my father. My mother though it was hilarious, but my father and the squirrel thought otherwise."

"Wow... I guess my hunt wasn't so bad after all, huh?" he asked , seeming to feel a bit better now.

"No, it wasn't. And you know what?"

"What?"

"Those two were even worse than you are when they first started. You at least know the hunter's crouch."

While he thought that through, she stood up and climbed up the rockpile. There was something she needed to do. Dusk was more than ready.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own gather beneath the rockpile for a clan meeting!" she yowled.

Duskpaw immediately turned toward her while the rest of the clan began to show up. Echosong and Frecklepaw emerged from the medicine den, sitting just outside of it. The queens came out of the nursery, though they stayed near the entrance to keep an eye on the kits. The border patrol appeared at the top of the gorge, and, seeing a clan meeting was starting, raced down to join everyone. More cats continued to appear, until finally, every cat was present. When they were all seated and quiet, she spoke.

"As you all know, we've had another new addition to the clan recently," she announced, looking warmly down at Dusk, who shied away from the attention. "Dusk has been with us for only a short while, and yet he's already shown much promise."

Cherrytail and Sparrowpelt exchanged a look, but Leafstar ignored them.

"Today, he will become an apprentice," she continued.

She beckoned him forward with a wave of her tail, and he crept forward until he stood alone at the foot of the rockpile.

"From this day forward, you will be known as Duskpaw," Leafstar said. "Sharpclaw, you are a brave and powerful warrior. Teach him well."

Though he seemed surprised, Sharpclaw didn't argue. Instead, he merely dipped his head to her. The two toms touched noses, as was tradition, while the clan called out Duskpaw's new name.

"Duskpaw! Duskpaw!"

A crowd of cats gathered around the new apprentice, congratulating him. The only two who remained silent were Cherrytail and Sparrowpelt.

_'I'll have to have another talk with them later,'_ Leafstar decided.

As the cheering died down, she began to speak again.

"Cats of SkyClan, you all remember the dogs who plagued this gorge just a few short seasons ago," she said, causing every cat to fall silent. "I want _every_ cat to be on the look out for any more. Several of them survived our attack and fled into the woods. We cannot risk being caught by surprise by them again. If you find _any_ signs of them, get help immediately. Do _not_ try to fight them on your own!"

At this, Patchfoot shrank away a bit. After that, she jumped down from the rockpile. The older apprentices lead Duskpaw away while the warriors all returned to whatever they'd been doing before. She padded over to Sharpclaw, who was watching Duskpaw head off with the other apprentices.

"He looks up to you, you know," she murmured, also watching the young tom.

Sharpclaw snorted softly.

"I highly doubt that," he replied calmly, though she could practically feel how tense he was.

And after what had happened recently between the two of them, she couldn't exactly blame him for being tense. She inwardly flinched at the memory, and quickly pushed it away. Not really knowing what else to say, she turned and headed for her den. Perhaps a light nap would help to calm her.

_'Then I'll go talk to Echosong about that dream I had...' _


End file.
